Two-part girder-rail



UNITED STATES ATENE- MICE@ ARTHUR J. MOXHAM, OF JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

TWOPART eiRoEFsRAiL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,552, dated October 23, 1888.

Application filed February 13, 188B. Serial No. 263,835. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR J. of Johnstown, in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Two-Part Girder Guard-Rail, which invention is fully set forth and illustrated in the following` specification and accompanying drawings.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a two-part girder-rail with a removable floor-plate.

The invention will first be described in devtail, and then particularly set forth in the claim..

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows in cross-section the two-part girder-rail and its door-plate forming the subject of this invention. Fig. 2 shows a section of the rail shown 1n Fig. l, upon a reduced scale, in perspective. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, having the floor-plate removed. Fig. 4. shows 1n perspective a section of the floor-plate detaehed from the rail.

In Fig. 4 the hoor-plate is shown beveled toward the end c, to permit of the easy passage of the car-wheel danges over said fioorplate.

In said figures the several parts are indicated by letters of reference as follows: When the head part A and the guard part B are bolted together by the bolts D, as shown in the drawings, there is left a dovetailed space, into which the dovetail or tongue c of the floor-plate G may be firmly interlocked and clamped. The adjacent webs of said parts A and B, constituting the two parts of the rail, are preferably slightly concave, as shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3, so that a bearing between the two webs is obtained at the bottom a and at or near the interlocking flange c of the floor-plate C, so that a small interval or space is left between the webs intermediate between the said points, whre the bolts D pass through the respective we s.

c rlhe dotted lines b b, Fig. 1, indicate the outlines for a different form of flange or base which may be given to the two-part rail, instead of the wider danges, (shown in the several figures.

MOXHAM,

treating it to make it resist wear, in addition In the manufacture of rolled steel switch- 5o pieces it is necessary to vary the depth of the groove Where the rails cross each other, in order to carry the wheels over the diagonal grooves that are cut through the head and guard of the rail for the passage of the wheeliianges. This has been heretofore done, in rolled switch-pieces, by filling up the groove to the desired height with a Hoor-plate previously forged and shaped, and fastening said Hoor-plate in place by rivets or bolts. Such rivets and bolts are liable to work loose, and the floor-plate, being necessarily thin at its tapered ends, quickly wears away, requiring frequent eXpensive and troublesome renewals; but with the construction shown in the drawings the desired end is attained by treating the door-plate C separately from the rail, tapering the ends, or otherwise shaping it, as may be desired, and also tempering or otherwise o to providing for its ready renewal or replace- 7 ment in the rail. Said floor-plate may also be made of a harder quality of steel or other metal than is compatible with safety in the head or guard parts of the rail, thereby enabling the floor-plate to resist the wear and abrasion to which it alone is most usually subject. Said door-plate, by this method of manufacture, may thus be made as durable as, or even more durable than, the other parts ofthe rail proper. The guard part B, being subject to the greatest wear on curves, may also by this construction be removed when worn out and replaced by a new guard-piece before the head part A has been rendered unfit for further use.

In the drawings a two-part sidebearing guard-rail is shown, and such would generally be used for the purposes of this invention; but it is evident that any type of girder-rail with which it is desired to use a floor-plate, such as the plate C, can be constructed on this principle, if desired. It is also evident that for the purpose of the interlocking of the parts many modifications of the dovetail form of the lower lug or base, c, of the door-plate C may be made without departing from the principle of the dovetail c, (shown in the drawings,) the interlocking of the respective parts ab the point a' being the object; to be accommovable floor-plate secured Within the groov plished. of the rail by a dovebail or locking sont, sub- I do not herein Claim a two-part', rail as Such; stantially as and for the purposes set forth. but, ARTHUR J. MOXHAM. 5 Having fully described my said two-part, Witnesses: A

girder guard-ramas of my invention I c1aim XV. E. HOOPES, A grooved girder-mil provided with a. re- A. J. BRYAN. 

